Lynne Darcey Quigley is the founder & CEO of UK leading commercial debt recovery specialists Darcey Quigley & Co and multi award-winning cloud-based automated credit control platform Know-it.

Lynne is driven by the need for business to be paid on time with current statistics showing that over 440,000 UK businesses could be forced out of business by the late payment crisis this year alone.

Lynne’s mission is to make credit control accessible for businesses of all sizes so they can make more informed credit decisions and get paid quicker for the work they do.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I’ve worked in the credit industry for over 27 years, having run UK leading commercial debt recovery specialists Darcey Quigley & Co for the past 16 years.

Last year we launched Know-it, a cloud-based credit management platform that helps businesses by automating their complete credit control process!

What inspired you to start your business?

Having worked in the credit industry I realised the importance of getting businesses paid.

I was initially inspired to start a commercial debt recovery company so that I could directly help businesses in need of getting their overdue invoices paid.

The business has gone from strength to strength, however I found that businesses needed our help because they did not have a robust credit control process in place.

This was because there was a lack of knowledge around credit management, the tools required for credit control were inaccessible, required lengthy contract tie-ins and were expensive for SMEs.

This is why I founded Know-it, a cloud-based automated credit control solution that provides SMEs with everything they need to make more informed credit decisions, reduce the time they wait to be paid and have the facility to recover unpaid invoices all in one place!

Our pricing means the platform is accessible for businesses of all sizes and we don’t have any contracts or tie-ins.

Where is your business based?

We’re based just outside Glasgow, Scotland.

We currently serve clients from all over the world!

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

When I initially started Darcey Quigley & Co I needed clients!

I got to work the old-fashioned way with a business directory and cold called clients that I felt would benefit from the services I was offering – selling to other businesses and offering credit.

I built my client base up, with word-of-mouth helping attract more clients.

With Know-it I had to start from scratch again. I hired a full in-house development team who built the platform from the ground-up. Once we were ready to launch, we already had an established marketing team from Darcey Quigley & Co who were able to straddle both brands, creating content, running digital ads and putting together email campaigns to get users onto the Know-it platform.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

We’ve seen a lot of success using digital ads and producing content for our website and social channels, clearly showing the pain points we can help resolve.

Attending key tradeshows has been a massive driver for us, particularly Know-it. It has allowed us to raise awareness and get on the floor talking to our target audience, keeping our ear to the ground, so that we can continue to meet the needs of our market.

We also do a lot of work in the press through a partnership with our PR partner. We’ve been able to add our commentary to emerging stories relevant to our audience and educate the wider public on the state of the late payment crisis gripping UK businesses, with companies chasing £61 billion worth of overdue invoices.

Making businesses aware of the problem and then illustrating how Know-it can help has been fundamental in helping us raise awareness for the new brand. With 400,000 businesses at risk of going bust due to not being paid on time, it is really making business owners take notice of the importance of credit control.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Starting a new fintech company, having had no background in tech, was a huge challenge and pretty daunting.

Whilst I have heaps of experience in the credit industry and recovering overdue invoices, entering the tech world as a start-up was a big task and a risk.

This is why I got to work on building out a dedicated in-house development team to help me build the Know-it product.

How do you stay focused?

My drive to help businesses get paid quicker and improve their cashflow keeps me grounded and focussed.

Making a real difference to thousands of businesses is what keeps me going and working to make both businesses as effective as possible.

Taking the time to reflect on the bigger picture of what we do often gives me the motivation to continue driving forward.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

Know-it is a revolutionary new platform as it is the only credit management platform that offers a true end-to-end credit control solution that is far superior to anything else available on the market.

Other credit control platforms offer pieces of what Know-it offers, but our platform is the only true fully automated credit management solution.

Our data integrations mean that Know-it can alleviate the problems thousands of SMEs in the UK have because of late payment by providing the intelligence needed to make more informed credit decisions.

We provide businesses a full credit control function without the need to hire additional staff or even a whole team. We even give our users access to well respected commercial debt recovery partner Darcey Quigley & Co directly from the Know-it platform. This isn’t something any other start-up in the market offers their users.

Know-it boasts more features than any other start-up in our industry and our smart integrations make Know-it more advanced too. Our key competitors are very much established and are maturing, however we still offer a point of difference with our innovative supply chain monitoring and the facility for credit insurance and invoice finance just added.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

We take a multi-pronged approach to marketing for both businesses.

Our marketing team create informative content on a regular basis that we share with our audience to demonstrate our trust and credibility.

We run digital ads catered to the solution or problem that our audience are searching for, taking every care to deliver exactly what they need at any given moment in their journey.

It may not be that they need us right there that second, so we curate a journey to nurture them along the journey to show that we are there for them exactly when they need us.

We do this with continuous communication and delivering useful content.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Just go for it!

Don’t hold back and overthink it. If you have a passion and feel you have a solution to a problem many people or businesses face, the best thing you can do is get started on bring your product or service to market.

Join your local community. I’ve benefited from the close and vibrant fintech community Scotland has to offer. They’ve been extremely supportive and opened the doors to many opportunities that we otherwise would not have been exposed to.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Favourite app would be either Xero or Booking.com, both for very different reasons! Xero allows me to at a glance see my businesses cashflow and money movement which is so important as a business owner. And Booking.com as I really value time outside of the office, anyone who knows me knows I like to get on an aeroplane every couple of months!

In terms of blogs I love to read TechCrunch, keeping up to date with all things business and tech! On the other hand I also like to have a noisy on TMZ, mindless entertainment which takes my mind of things!

Books aren’t really my thing.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Salesforce has been a game-changer for both businesses!

The reporting and insight we can get on a daily basis is such a fantastic asset and allows us to make data-driven decisions.

We have taken huge strides forwards since we ramped up our reporting and became much more forensic in the way we operate both businesses.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My Mum. I always admired her grit and determination which has always been a driver for me in my life. I have been able to take a lot of her qualities and implement them in my day to day life inside and outside of the office!

How do you balance work and life?

Work life balance is so important if we want to perform at our best.

With this in mind I take every opportunity I can to spend time with my daughter, taking her to her favourite sports clubs and encouraging her to follow her passions.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Aside from the time I spend with my daughter, I love indulging in a TV series, allowing me rare time to switch off from work!

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We have huge growth ambitions and we’re currently planning international expansion for both businesses!

We’re aiming to launch Know-it in Australia, New Zealand, US and Canada very soon.

With this in mind we’ve significantly increased our headcount and we’re still advertising for new roles within both businesses.

It’s a really exciting time for us!

How can our readers connect with you?

I can be reached on LinkedIn and can find Know-it here and Darcey Quigley & Co here!